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NCGIA to host 25th Anniversary Conference of Geoinformatics

By Elin Hawkinson

When two UB graduate students in Geography, Hui Lin and Yuemin Ding, decided to organize an international conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience), they could hardly have imagined it would grow into the full-fledged International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Sciences (CPGIS), boasting a 1,400-member listserv, a peer-reviewed journal and an annual conference attended by some of the most prestigious academics and scientists in GIScience today. Yet two-and-half decades later, it’s clear their initiative and influence have reached a global scale, culminating in the 25th Anniversary Conference of Geoinformatics.

Celebrating 25 Years of CPGIS

From August 2-4, 2017, the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis at Buffalo (NCGIA-Buffalo) will proudly host the 25th Anniversary Conference in the place where it all began. The conference will feature world-renowned speakers and one very familiar face: UB Vice-Provost for International Education, Dr. Stephen Dunnett, who opened the inaugural conference in 1992, has graciously agreed to fill that role again.

Chairing the event is Dr. Ling Bian, Professor of Geography and Director of the NCGIA-Buffalo, along with Professor of Geography Dr. Le Wang and Dr. Li Yin, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning.

“There has never been such a large gathering of GIScience visionaries under one roof,” says Dr. Bian. “We are honored to host an event that carries such significance for the development of GIScience research and the history of collaborative efforts between the NCGIA and CPGIS. We know the conference will both reunite our alumni friends of whom we are so proud, and help attract the next generation of talented GIScience students, scholars and faculty to our UB community.”

High-Profile Speakers

Eight of the most brilliant minds in GIScience have been tapped to present keynote speeches, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the Royal Society in the U.K. and a fellow in the Royal Society of Canada:

Luc Anselin, University of Chicago and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences

Michael Batty, University College London and a fellow of the Royal Society in the U.K.

Jing M. Chen, University of Toronto and a fellow in the Royal Society of Canada

Jianya Gong, Wuhan University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Michael Goodchild, University of California, Santa Barbara, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences

Huadong Guo, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth at Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Deren Li, Wuhan University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Anthony Yeh, University of Hong Kong and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Collaborations and Catch-Ups

Of the 52 founding members, 24 are past CPGIS presidents and an overwhelming majority now hold positions of leadership in academic institutions, corporations and government agencies. The three-day event will serve as a reunion of sorts, an opportunity for the original members to meet again and mingle with other GIScience alumni and current students.

“The conference will provide a unique forum for UB researchers and students to interact with world leaders, facilitate research collaborations and exchange new ideas and innovative knowledge in GIScience,” Dr. Bian says.

Peer-reviewed proceedings of the conference will be published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

About GIScience at UB

UB has featured prominently in GIScience research and education since the mid-1970s. The UB Department of Geography is home to one of only three U.S. sites of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA), an independent research consortium founded in 1988 as a National Science Foundation Center.